Review by D. Patric:

I just picked this up and it’s a very nice shelf system. It’s not going to shake the walls at high volume, but if you were looking for that much power, you wouldn’t be looking at a shelf system to begin with. The true test of quality sound comes at the lower end of the volume knob. Here is where this unit excels. No hissing or crackling noise and the bass is rich and pure and sounds dynamite. I played a burn job from mp3 files and I was stunned at just how good this unit really does sound! Mind you, this system does have a wee bit more power than comparable units, so you can crank the volume up loud enough for most people’s tastes and there is no sound distortion at the high end, either. It’s also pretty easy to mount on the wall, if so desired. It does come with a stand, which suffices well enough, if you don’t feel like drilling into your walls. I only have one complaint and it’s a minor one. While the speakers attach to the unit as seen in the pic, Philips should have also enabled you to be able to mount the speakers onto a wall, apart from the unit, to achieve a much better stereo sound. I have a speaker on the nightstand on each side of the bed and when I lie down to relax with some good tunes, it sounds simply fantastic. So, sound like a good deal? It is, and for a great price, too! Just make sure you have some extra speaker wire handy, as there’s not that much attached to each speaker to begin with. Trust me on this. For the price being asked, in my opinion, sound byte for sound byte, this is one of the best shelf units out there. I listened to a lot of small systems in the up to and a little above the one hundred and fifty level and this system won hands down every time. A nice added bonus feature is that it was also the most eye appealing, too!

Review by T. L. Haesche:

I bought this after reading 2 reviews on Amazon which were favorable. It skipped CDs after 4 months in my office. Sounds great, looks great… but rate it zero for durability. The repair or shipping for repairs will probably cost at least half the buying price. Disappointed.

Review by Aaron D.:

The Jensen JMC-255 is what it is, a fairly cheap, small sized stereo. I bought it because I was looking for an inexpensive way to play music in my daughters room all night. We’ve burned through several CD players as most of them cannot sustain continuously spinning CD’s. MP3 were the perfect solution, but buying iPod docks of some kind seemed like overkill and running a computer all night just for music was too much as well. Music from a USB drive however, was the perfect solution. That’s what lead me to the JMC-255. In addition to the radio, CD and Aux input, you can also plug in a USB flash drive and it will play all your MP3′s off the drive. This feature works well and the operational aspects of the Jensen are straight forward. Most features operate just as you would expect them to. The buttons and controls are ‘plasticy’ and feel cheap, but are the same as on any other product in this price and category. The radio tuner is the fake digital display over an analog (turn dial) tuner but it works ok, on the plus size is has a fairly long wire antenna so reception (in my area) is pretty good. The remote is fine, does what it says it does and it’s actually easier to turn up the volume with the remote than on the unit itself. The reason is because for volume control it has a funky, flat, push button (look at the lower silver circle in the picture, that’s the volume)control… the unit is so light that when you push it, the unit tends to slide backwards. And it ‘clicks’ when you push it which is annoying.

As for sound quality, again, it is what it is. It just cannot produce any real bass sounds. I don’t mean just ‘thumping’ music, I mean any base notes…. Jazz, Blues, Pop, etc. the speakers are just hollow and muddy and it can be really distracting. Why this thing has a “bass Boost” button is beyond me. That said, since I’m only playing lullaby style baby music and some light jazz I can live with it. Again, it’s just… fair. ‘Morning show’ talk radio is ok and light rock played at lower levels is fine although ranges from sounding ‘ok’ to sounding horrible. There are no sound control options (other than volume)that I’m aware of.

I really like the USB feature as it provides hours of music with very little hassle and the tuner is ok. I’m neutral to recommending this unit although it’s good enough for me not to return and for my needs its fine. If you buy it, you will get exactly what you think you will get, an inexpensive small sized stereo with ok features, fair usability and cheap sound. It is what it is.

PS: Kudos to Amazon, I did the cheapest shipping possible and still got it in 5 business days. Thanks.

Review by M. Schwartz:

I recieved the product and so far so good. The only thing that I found ‘cheap’ and annoying is that Jensen did not bother to inculde 2 AAA batteries for the remote control. In this day and age, that was quite a surprise.

It is great that you can place the speakers apart; however, the wire is not that long, therefore the speakers will not be as far apart as you would like

Review by Thomas Haughton:

I’ve wondered at times about some of the glowing reviews I’ve read online over the years for various products: Are these real folks or PR plants from manufacturers? (Hey, it happens all the time in the hotel biz.)

So… if you share my suspicions, no, despite what follows, I don’t work for Onkyo in any way shape or form–but I have been involved with audio in various capacities for many years. And… the last time I got this excited about a piece of electronics Ronald Reagan was president…

In short, if you’re considering replacing an older receiver (or any receiver you’re not currently totally in love with) and you aren’t looking for surround sound or lots of bells and whistles, this is your amp. It has a rich, lush (very tube like) sound, and it doesn’t sweat driving 4 ohm speakers very loudly (trust me, I know.)

But let’s stay respectful: If you’re looking to fart out bass at 130db, please don’t waste your time with this receiver. Consider 10 o’clock the maximum volume setting for most digital sources. There are cheaper models on the market you can abuse. Please do.

Power. Clarity. Smoothness and functionality. Especially for well under 0 I doubt this receiver will ever meet its match.

post script: Since I wrote this review some time ago, I’ve noted a few criticisms regarding the sound of this receiver. Ok, here’s the deal: It ain’t a Krell or a Mark Levinson, but for a fraction of the cost you’re getting, to me, the best sound available for a few hundred bucks–and quite often for multiples of that figure. Add in a cheap but fair sounding EQ and you suddenly have yourself fidelity that can very much approach audiophile standards. Under 00 per unit, the number one problem I’ve found in so-called “mid-fi” gear is trouble in the 1K range. So if you can cheaply attenuate that, again, you’ve got yourself some very respectable sound at a bargain. But “off the rack,” I’ve never found anything that approaches the sound of this unit at anywhere near the price. It was especially rewarding to read from so many folks (older ones in particular) how they and others were able rediscover the simple pleasure of listening to music again thanks to this cheap Onkyo receiver–and isn’t that what good audio is all about?

Review by Mike Ventura:

This receiver replaced a Sony STR 397 that had a continuous static problem that was never fixed. I gave up on the Sony and bought the Onkyo. I use it to power two Polk tower speakers hooked up to my HDTV and DVD player.

The receiver is basic, no frills. Bass, treble and balance controls are on the front panel. There is no loudness control. There are multiple memory settings for music stations. All the standard connections are in the back including an input for an iPod (docking station extra). The tuner works well and has standard scanning for stations.

The receiver is rated at 50W per channel. It is plenty adequate for the Polks. The sound is clear and unvarnished. It produces a crisper, cleaner sound than the Sony.

For sound reproduction without lots of frills and buttons, this has proved an excellent choice. I am very pleased with the item.

Once again, I have to complement Amazon for having excellent pricing and incredible free shipping that is fast.

Review by L. Allis:

This Sherwood (noted brand years ago, now mysterious) might be a decent bargain for twice the money. It’s stripped down by present standards — two channels only, no phonograph input. It’s dead quiet and extremely clean sounding. I can’t hear any emphases or dead spots in the frequencies. The tuner is exceptionally good; I am surprised at the success I’m having with it in a poor reception area, with only the antennas that are supplied. Appearance and quality are fine: nice black steel case, solid buttons, one big old volume knob. It was all I needed, so I’m very pleased. Going to get another for a computer amp.

Review by Embry Mayes Kendrick:

Sherwood was a manufacture of mid quality, tube type audio devices during my childhood- a long time ago. A typical two channel, tube type AM/FM stereo receiver made 30 RMS watts per channel and cost around 0. By those standards, today’s Sherwood RX- 4103 making more than three times the power at half the cost is an outstanding value.

This is an attractive, cool running, although quite large and heavy, receiver. The display is functional and easy to read. The controls are well marked and easy to understand and use. The remote control buttons are readable by my ancient eyes and offer a number of desirable functions. My only complaint with the packaging of this unit is the size and weight. For some reason, Sherwood used a massive power supply transformer which requires a large enclosure and makes the unit heavy. Why didn’t they employ a switching power supply and cut the size and weight by 2/3?

I purchased this receiver because I needed an amplifier for my bedroom, and I was unable to find a discrete amplifier at a reasonable price. The amplifier section in this receiver is excellent. The first thing that struck me was that it is quiet. With the volume at mid-high level, silence reigns between CD tracks. Further, the output is clean even at high levels. I have two amplifier related complaints. The bass tone control curve is not well designed. Increasing the bass causes the middle frequencies to become muddy. The speaker wire connectors are too small to accommodate #16 wire. This is a powerful amplifier, and it should have been given binding posts capable of accepting wire large enough to deliver the power to the speakers.

The tuner sections lack sensitivity, and the AM tuner has poor noise rejection in my experience. The lack of sensitivity will likely not be a problem for those living near the stations they want to tune.

The Sherwood RX- 4103 offers a lot of performance for the price. Yes, I wish it were smaller, had better tuners and binding posts for the speaker wires, but I don’t think you can find a better stereo receiver within of this one.